Anderson reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995.[2] He completed a year of training and evaluation, and was qualified for flight crew assignment as a mission specialist.[2] Anderson was initially assigned technical duties in the Flight Support Branch of the Astronaut Office, but went on to log more than 593 hours in space aboard two Space Shuttle missions.[2]

STS-89Endeavour (January 22–31, 1998). Anderson was a mission specialist on STS-89, the eighth Shuttle-to-MirSpace Station docking mission, during which the crew delivered more than 9,000 pounds of scientific equipment, logistical hardware, and water.

In the fifth and last exchange of a U.S. astronaut, STS-89 delivered Andy Thomas to Mir and returned with David Wolf. The mission's duration was 8 days, 19 hours, and 47 seconds, traveling 3.6 million miles in 138 orbits of the Earth.[3]

STS-107Space Shuttle Columbia (January 16-February 1, 2003). Anderson served as payload commander and lieutenant colonel in charge of science experiments on the Columbia, NASA's oldest shuttle.[5] On February 1, 2003, the shuttle was returning to Earth after a successful 16-day trip to orbit, where the crew had conducted more than 80 scientific experiments.[6]

Unbeknownst to her crew,[7] the orbiter had suffered critical damage during its launch on January 16, when foam from the fuel tank's insulation fell off and tore a hole in Columbia's left wing.[8] During re-entry, the hole allowed super-hot atmospheric gases to penetrate the orbiter's wing, leading to its destruction.[8] The mission's duration was 15 days, 22 hours, and 20 minutes.

Anderson Plaza, the green space in front of the Hixson-Lied Science Center at Creighton University was named after him in a compromise between the student body, who wanted the Science Center named for Anderson, and the administration who had already sold the naming rights to the Hixson-Lied family.

Blair Elementary School on Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington was renamed Michael Anderson Elementary School in January 2004. Anderson attended the school as a fifth-grader.[13]

Avondale Elementary School in Avondale, Arizona was renamed Michael Anderson Elementary in his honor. He attended school there when he was in 3rd grade, and one of the school T-shirts was aboard the Columbia on its last voyage.

In 2003 he was inducted into the International Forest of Friendship, in Atchison, KS as part of a memorial to the Columbia astronauts.[14]

An outdoor bronze statue of Anderson was unveiled in Spokane in June 2005. Larger-than-life, it was created by local artist Dorothy Fowler, and shows Anderson kneeling with his helmet in one hand and a dove in the other.[15][16]